EGYPT'S swimming sensation Rania Elwani won two medals, one of them gold, at the Goodwill Games in the US. The woman dubbed "the golden fish" by the local press was chosen to swim on the world all-star team, which clinched the gold in the 400-metre freestyle relay.
The team included Costa Rica's Claudia Poll, Inge De Bruijn from Holland and Russia's Martina Moravcova. The US and Germany took the silver and bronze medals.
In the 400-metre medley relay, Elwani anchored all-star teammates Yuliya Fomenko, Penny Heyns and Cecile Jeanson to third place and the bronze.
Peace on hold
PRESIDENT Clinton's national security adviser, Samuel Berger, has reaffirmed that the administration will keep pushing for a breakthrough in lagging Middle East peace talks and said it was ready to offer a public explanation if the talks failed. Berger did not set a date for such an announcement.
After meeting Berger on Tuesday, Ehud Barak, leader of Israel's Labour Party, currently visiting the US to campaign for his party's vision of a settlement, predicted a disaster and a new vicious circle of violence if the talks failed, AP reported.
In direct talks this week, Palestinians rejected Israel's latest offer to withdraw from 10 per cent of the West Bank and retain security control over an additional three per cent. The US State Department has backed down from an earlier threat to end its mediation and said other options are under consideration.
PA shuffle
PALESTINIAN President Yasser Arafat reshuffled his cabinet yesterday, but left in place ministers accused by Palestinian legislators of corruption and mismanagement.
In an address to the Palestinian Legislative Council, Arafat said all the ministers would remain in place with the exception of Yasser Amr, the education minister, whose post Arafat himself will take over, Reuters reported.
Four other ministers changed portfolios while an additional 10 ministers were named by Arafat amid heckling from members of the 88-seat Legislative Council. Some legislators said they were dissatisfied with the new cabinet and would not vote for it.
